It was just over twenty years ago that I heard Fuschia Pickett say something that changed my life. She said, "You can have as much of God as you want." I'm sure I'd heard that said before, but that day it came with the breath of God upon it.
That was the day I made the decision to wake-up early in the morning to start seek His presence before anything else. I had one small child and a baby at the time and sleep was a rare commodity. For the first couple of weeks, I remember thinking, "I'm too tired to pray, read my Bible, or even hear God!" He didn't rush in and start speaking right away, but I persisted. Not long after, my relationship with the Lord exploded with dynamic encounters of His presence. To this day, set-apart time with Him is my life-force and joy.
How much of God do you want?
Isn't it interesting that the Creator of all things allows us to decide how close we want to come? He gently draws us to Himself, but it takes an act of our will to shake off the distractions and respond. Yes, the Lord can swoop in and encounter us, but usually the most profound encounters are a direct result of choosing to prioritize our relationship with Him over everything else. (Especially, internet, TV, etc.) Intentionality on our part, choosing Him over and over and over again, invites the most profound encounters of His love. These quiet times are when we hear Him the clearest.
So busy!
Life really gets busy! I get it. But the truth is that somewhere in your day you have an extra fifteen minutes to prioritize your relationship with Him. It's not a chore. It's not a duty. If that's how you've been thinking about it, I encourage you to hand that thinking over to the Lord right away! If the desire is gone, ask Him to breathe it back into you. Learning to live out of a place of deep communion with the Lord is learning to live in peace, joy, wisdom, etc. "In Him we live and move and have our being." - Acts 17:28 That means outside of living in Him, we are dead, stuck, and lost for our identity.
Are you unable to still your mind?
One thing that happens to us when our minds are accustomed to the swirling thoughts, is that it's hard to get that wheel to stop spinning. It seems almost impossible to shut down the thoughts long enough to hear Him or feel Him. I find this happens to me if I've missed a couple of days of quiet time with Him. I'd love to hear how you get your mind/emotions to become still, so that you can focus on Him. For me, I put worship music on and sing until I feel the switch inside. If I'm especially stressed, it may take a good hour of pressing in and worshipping, but if I don't give up, my mind will slow and my spirit takes charge again!
What are the ways you create stillness? How do you press through when you feel dry?I'd love to hear from you in the comment section.
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